


666 Darkmore Cuddle Pile

by aunt_zelda



Category: From Beyond (1986), Re-Animator (1985)
Genre: Ableist Language, Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Comfort, Crossover Pairings, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Medication, Mental Health Issues, Multi, Night Terrors, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Threesome, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Hatred, Sleeping Together, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-23
Updated: 2014-11-23
Packaged: 2018-02-26 17:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2660177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aunt_zelda/pseuds/aunt_zelda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Universe AU, what if Crawford Tillinghast was Dan's new roommate instead? And what if after the first week there he started waking up in the night screaming?</p><p>The title gives it away but yes, this is a happy ending AU, nobody dies, nobody reanimates anybody.</p>
            </blockquote>





	666 Darkmore Cuddle Pile

**Author's Note:**

> So, I oughta be doing a million other things.   
> What did I do? I spent a chunk of my evening writing this. 
> 
> Based on the tumblr posts you can find here: http://schrodingers-rufus.tumblr.com/post/103320594155
> 
> The story is divided into three bits, the first is from Dan’s POV, the second is from Meg’s, and the last is from Crawford’s. 
> 
> Please note that Crawford has some huge self-esteem issues in this fic, he thinks of himself in pretty poor terms, he hates himself sometimes, he has memories of doing things to hurt himself, and he refers to the mental hospital he was at as an “asylum.” These are not things I personally believe about the character, these are the things that he’s thinking about himself. I just wanted to reiterate this in case any potential readers have triggers related to this sort of thing. 
> 
> Hugging the night terrors away is not something I’ve done much research into at all, I just wanted to write a fluffy fanfic. This is probably not good therapy. Whatever, there is a cat cuddling on his feet, I wanted happiness. 
> 
> I think this is the tamest thing I've written in a long time.

Crawford was alright. A bit weird, but what medical student wasn’t? He was a transfer student, but when Dan had asked from where Crawford had looked panicked and muttered something unintelligible. Dan hadn’t pried, Crawford’s past was his own, he’d just been trying to make conversation.

Crawford had a reduced courseload, he only had two classes this semester and he was doing his hospital work from his room, data entry and database management. So he was at the house almost all of the time. This would have been annoying, but the man was so damned quiet that Dan sometimes forgot he was even around. 

And Rufus liked him. Rufus was an excellent judge of character. Dan had seen Rufus go running just to twine around Crawford’s legs on the rare occasions that Crawford emerged from his room to make ramen or tea. It was pretty cute. Once he saw Crawford crouching down to scratch Rufus behind the ears, Dan decided to stop worrying about the man’s odd schedule. 

Then, about a week after Crawford had moved in, Dan awoke to screams in the night.

It was a pretty horrible thing to wake up to. Dan panicked, nearly knocked over his lamp in his haste to turn it on. He blinked, flailing to get out of bed and find the source of the noises. Was Crawford watching a horror movie downstairs? At … 3am? It seemed unlikely. 

Dan grabbed his baseball bat from under the bed and silently moved down the hallway. 

Rufus was scratching at Crawford’s door and meowing pitifully. 

The screaming was coming from Crawford’s room.

It wasn’t just screaming, Dan could hear now, it was sobbing too. Screaming, following by sobbing, and some pleading. 

Crawford sounded like he was having the worst nightmares a person had ever had.

Dan set down the bat, gave Rufus a pat on the head, and broke his promise of staying out of Crawford’s room at all times.

The room wasn’t pitch dark. A small lamp on the desk was on, a dim blue light cast in one corner of the room. Dan could see pretty much everything.

He saw Crawford in bed, tangled in the sheets, flailing, screaming hoarsely now.

“No … noooooooo …” Crawford moaned, hands scrabbling at the air. “Get away … noooooo …” 

Dan had never done something like this before. In bed with Meg, she’d had a nightmare once, but he’d woken her up by saying her name over and over again and shaking her shoulder slightly. He’d never touched Crawford before except to shake his hand, and he was already intruding as it was.

“Uh … Crawford?” Dan cleared his throat. “Crawford! Wake up! You’re dreaming!”

Crawford didn’t seem to have heard him. He kept twisting and turning on the bed, now holding his face and screaming “Get it out … get it out … stop it …” 

Dan sighed and took a step forward. Boundaries be damned, Crawford sounded like he was dying of fear. He reached out and grabbed Crawford’s shoulder, intending to shake him.

Crawford reacted instantly, screaming and flinging himself half off of the bed. Dan seized him to keep him from falling off entirely and hurting himself. Crawford struggled, and Dan ended up collapsed on the bed, arms around Crawford.

And then Crawford woke up.

He blinked, panting, staring around wildly. 

Dan let go of him instantly, scrambling up off of the bed. “You were having a nightmare. I couldn’t wake you up.” He said, as if that explained the situation. 

Crawford wrapped his arms around himself. “Sorry,” he whispered, cringing. “I … I should’ve warned you. I’m taking … the drugs are supposed to help … they’re not … helping …” he shrugged. “Dosage must be off. But they won’t … switch me … until they’re certain …” he folded his legs up and hugged them to his chest.

Dan frowned. “Um … can I make you some tea?” he asked. 

Crawford looked at him then, wide-eyed, face still damp from where he’d been – Christ, he’d been _crying_ during all of that. “What?”

“Tea. You … um, you’re not gonna be getting to sleep soon, so I could make you some tea?” Dan was pretty sure that was a thing people did for each other after something bad. 

“… yes?” Crawford sounded unsure. 

Rufus jumped up onto the bed and headbutted Crawford’s leg. 

“Well, Rufus will keep you company. I’ll get the tea.” 

When Dan returned with the tea Crawford seemed a bit more relaxed. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed, cradling Rufus in his arms. The cat was purring happily, tail flicking lazily. At the sound of Dan returning Crawford looked up guiltily. He moved to set Rufus down.

“Hey, the cat goes where he wants to,” Dan said, setting down a mug on Crawford’s bedside table. “Doesn’t bother me.”

Crawford smiled, and continued holding Rufus. Eventually he set the cat down on the blankets and picked up the mug of tea. 

“You wanna, uh, talk about it?” Dan asked. 

“No.” Crawford shook his head. “I’ll … I’ll be quieter, I promise.”

Dan blinked. “That’s not … look, I was worried you were being murdered or something. You sounded … it was scary. You shouldn’t be having nights like that. How often does that happen?”

Crawford sipped his tea slowly. “Once every five days is the average I’ve calculated.”

Dan stared at him. “That’s … that’s horrible. “

Crawford shrugged one shoulder. 

“Is there anything I can do to … help you?” Dan offered. 

Crawford stared at him for a very long time. 

“Look, I just, you sounded really scared, and that was horrible. If I can help somehow …” Dan shrugged. 

Crawford finished the tea and set the empty mug on the table. “My first few nights here, I fell asleep with Rufus on my chest. Usually when I move, I have a … a bad night, the first evening in a new place. I didn’t.”

“Until tonight, when Rufus wasn’t here.” Dan looked at the cat, who was licking his paws and paying them no attention. “Look, I don’t mind if my cat sleeps on you. If it helps, great.”

Crawford looked like he was about to cry. “Thank you, Dan. I … thank you.” He ran a hand over Rufus’ fur. “They didn’t allow pets at the asylum.”

Dan very carefully did not say anything to that. It wasn’t any of his business, and Crawford had just confided in him after a moment of vulnerability. He smiled, scratched Rufus behind the ears, and left with the two mugs. “I hope you get some sleep tonight. Better sleep.”

Crawford slept quietly for a few nights. Dan hoped that the Rufus fix had been just what Crawford had needed. 

Then he woke to Rufus pawing at his face and yowling. 

“What is it boy?” Dan rubbed at his eyes and got up. He didn’t smell smoke, so that wasn’t it. Didn’t pets warn people about earthquakes?

But no, Dan soon heard the cause for Rufus’ alarm. It was louder tonight, because the door was slightly ajar, in order to allow Rufus in and out. 

Crawford was screaming, pleading, clutching at the sheets and clawing at the air. 

Dan didn’t waste any time with yelling. He carefully got onto the bed and half tackled Crawford. “Wake up, wake up, please wake up,” Dan said, over and over again as Crawford struggled in his arms. 

Crawford eventually did. He went still and silent. And then he faceplanted onto Dan’s chest and started crying. His shoulders shook and his hands clutched at Dan’s shirt. There were no words, just whimpering and sobbing. 

Dan flailed his hands a bit, uncertain, and then started rubbing circles against Crawford’s back. It didn’t seem to especially help, but it didn’t make him any worse either. 

Rufus mewled with concern and padded up onto the blanket, curling up and watching them.

Eventually Crawford either wore himself out, or calmed down. He snuffled, and leaned back, shrinking away from Dan. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.” Dan shrugged. “Rufus not helping this time?”

“I guess not.” Crawford sighed heavily, petting the cat. “I thought … I’d hoped …”

“You’ll find something that works.” Dan said.

“I wish I had your confidence,” Crawford attempted a smile. This brought on another wave of tears. He clung to Dan again, and eventually Dan realized that the man had cried himself to sleep. 

Carefully, Dan extricated himself from the bed, draped the blankets over Crawford’s shoulders, whispered “stay” to Rufus, and left the room.

After that, every other night, or every three nights, or every four nights on a good week, Crawford would wake up screaming and Dan would hold him until he fell back asleep. 

Sometimes Dan would just stay up late, reading, doing homework, until he heard Crawford start to scream. 

~*~

First Meg thought Dan was only tired from some late shift at the hospital. But now every time she came over to study (or, “study” as they called it) Dan had bags under his eyes, yawned, generally looked like he was going through finals week constantly. 

“Dan, what’s wrong?” Meg asked. They were eating pizza at the kitchen table, tangling their legs together casually. Rufus had prowled through earlier and was now missing, but Meg had no doubt he’d be back to trip them up as they washed the dishes. 

“Nothing.” Dan said quickly, too quickly.

“Dan,” Meg frowned. “You look terrible. Have you been sick or something? These past few weeks …”

Dan winced. He stared at his slice of pizza and set it down. “It’s my new roommate.”

Meg had met the shy, quiet man in an oversized sweater, Crawford Tillinghast, when he had moved in. He’d shaken her hand, avoided eye contact, and shuffled back to his room. He’d been living here for weeks and that was the only time she’d seen him.

“What about him?” Meg had experienced her fair share of terrible roommates, and was very grateful for her single room on campus now. 

“He’s … he’s been having …” Dan sighed heavily. “I’m not sure it’s my place to tell you. I don’t know if he wants other people to know.”

Meg considered this. “Is there any way you can … show me?”

Dan nodded, looking pained. “Just stay over tonight. You’ll … you’ll know. It was quiet last night.”

They watched tv after dinner, some cop drama that Meg felt she’d seen before. Dan kept nodding off, waking up and asking whether the killer had been found yet or not. 

By the third show of the night, Dan was awake, and seemed tense. 

A scream tore through the apartment. 

Meg jumped. “What the hell –”

“Come on,” Dan sighed, standing up and heading for the hallway. 

“Dan, what’s going on?” Meg asked. Did Crawford have psychotic episodes? Was Dan covering for him for some reason?

“It’s not as bad as you’re thinking,” Dan said. He pushed open Crawford’s door. 

Rufus was sitting on top of the dresser, tail twitching. Crawford was in his bed, writhing, screaming, pleading. It was horrible to witness. 

“Oh my god, Dan …” Meg wasn’t sure what to do. Wake him up, certainly, but what was the best way to do that? 

Wordlessly, Dan got into the bed, carefully got a hold of Crawford, and pinned him down. Crawford woke up, sobbing.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry …”

“It’s ok,” Dan made nonsense shushing sounds, looking at Meg helplessly over the top of Crawford’s head.

Meg picked up Rufus and pet him, watching her boyfriend do much the same thing to Crawford on the bed. Dan was so gentle with the man. It reminded her of the time she’d had some stomach bug and Dan had stayed with her while she threw up and shook with fever all night. That was the night that Meg had realized that Dan was a keeper. 

Crawford caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye and froze, panic creeping into his face. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Meg said at once, keeping her tone level and calm. “Just relax, ok? You’re safe now.”

Crawford’s face crumpled and he buried himself against Dan’s chest, a fresh wave of sobbing issuing from him.

“Don’t worry,” Dan whispered, still rubbing circles on Crawford’s back. Whether he meant to direct this to Crawford Meg, Meg couldn’t tell. Perhaps he was talking to himself.

Crawford went limp eventually. Dan tucked him in and headed for the door. “He’ll be fine now, usually,” he whispered, as Meg set Rufus down and followed him out of the bedroom. 

“How often does this happen?” Meg asked, throat dry. She’d only met the man once, but seeing him so upset and terrified had shaken her. 

“Every couple of nights.”

So that was why Dan hadn’t been getting enough sleep. 

“That’s horrible.”

“Yeah.”

“Is he … taking anything for it?” Meg asked, as delicately as she could. 

“He’s on some meds. He thinks the dosage is off, but his doctor’s waiting to switch him to something else, to make sure. You know how drugs can get, takes weeks to settle into someone’s system, figure out what’s a side-effect and what’s a reaction.” Dan scowled. 

“Was he a soldier or something?” Meg asked. It had looked like night terrors, or some kind of flashback. Crawford didn’t exactly look like the soldier type though. 

“I don’t think so, no.” Dan shrugged. “He doesn’t want to talk about it. His past. I think the professors know something. They’re always asking me how he’s doing.” 

“He’s not, I mean …” Meg hated to say it but she had to, just to be sure. “He’s not dangerous, is he?”

“No.” Dan shook his head adamantly. 

“Ok.” Meg stared at the dark hallway. “Every night you just … wait for him to start screaming?”

“I don’t know what else to do. Rufus helps, but …” Dan slumped in his chair, head in his hands. “I’m so tired, all the time now. But if I stop, he’s going to keep screaming. I can’t … he’s so scared, Meg, every time, he’s just so scared …” Dan looked like he was about to cry himself. 

Meg put her arms around Dan. “Come on, let’s go to sleep.”

She was already formulating a plan. But tonight was too late to talk about it. Later, she would.

Really, Dan was lucky to have her around. He was going to kill himself the way he was headed, convinced it was the only way to help Crawford. 

Meg got Dan in bed, and he was asleep before even the notion of fooling around crossed his mind. She reached over and turned off the lamp, cuddling up against her boyfriend, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. 

~*~

Crawford spent the day petting Rufus and chipping away at his homework. He tried not to think of the previous night, failed, cringed so hard he wanted to hide under his bed forever, pet Rufus to feel better, did more homework, thought about last night, and repeated the cycle over and over again.

Dan had been so kind, so amazingly kind. Crawford could still hardly believe how kind Dan had been over the past few weeks. He wasn’t used to people being nice to him, especially not normal people like Dan. 

Crawford was terrified that Dan was going to kick him out now. His girlfriend, Meg, had seen them last night. Crawford wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable about interpersonal relationships, but he was pretty certain that a woman would be less than thrilled to see her boyfriend embracing a man in bed every other night for the rest of her life. 

Sooner or later, Dan would be persuaded to ask Crawford to leave. Meg, or the frustration of dealing with Crawford’s night terrors, would overpower his self-sacrificing nature, and Crawford would have to find a new place to live. 

Crawford was really going to miss Rufus. The cat had been just as kind as Dan, and just as comforting too. Crawford was getting more nights of sleep than he had since … since …

Crawford curled around Rufus and pet him until his heart rate had slowed to an acceptable level again. 

By the time the gap around the curtain had gone dark, there was a knock on the slightly ajar door. 

“Dinner?” Dan asked.

Crawford gulped. A stupid part of him wanted to hide under the bed with Rufus forever. He’d never make any noise, just so long as he could stay here, where there was quiet and safety and Rufus and Dan making tea late at night and holding him and making him forget about everything and just grounding him with his strong arms, holding him still, keeping him from floating away or melting or …

“Look, I know you don’t normally eat at regular hours, but I’m gonna insist tonight, ok? Sorry, I’m being mean.” Dan laughed awkwardly and said. “Look, you haven’t eaten all day, Crawford, come on. I’m worried about you.”

Crawford stared at the door, an apology already at the tip of his tongue. He didn’t want to make Dan worry. He didn’t want to be a bother. Dan was so good, so kind, and Crawford was … horrible. 

Crawford closed his laptop and cast a regretful look at the warm spot in the center of his bed next to Rufus, and headed out. 

Meg was at the kitchen table. Crawford felt his heart sink. Was he going to be kicked out so soon? 

He ate what Dan put in front of him, though he barely tasted it. It was all he could do to keep it down. Crawford was tempted to beg; if he thought begging would sway Dan at all he would have tried it. With Meg here, though, it wouldn’t have worked. Nobody in their right mind would choose someone broken and pathetic like Crawford over someone beautiful and normal like Meg.

Meg seemed to be trying to be friendly, which just confused Crawford even more. She asked about his classes, his work-study job, what he thought about the university. Crawford answered in stuttered, clipped sentences, but Meg didn’t seem to mind. 

Despite knowing that she would inevitably be the cause of Dan kicking him out, Crawford couldn’t help but warm to her. She was charming, inviting, so easy to talk to. He could see how she and Dan had gotten together, they fit perfectly.

Dan insisted on clearing the dishes and left Crawford and Meg to stare at each other in an uncomfortable silence. 

“You know, for a pair of brilliant doctors, you two sure are being stupid about this.” Meg said at last.

“What?” Crawford blinked at her.

“The answer’s obvious. I just don’t understand why the two of you haven’t tried it already.” Meg bit her lip. “Unless … oh, is it me? I don’t mind, really, you obviously need the help, and if Dan can provide it …”

“I’m sorry, I don’t … what?” Crawford glanced at Dan nervously and turned back to Meg. “Mind … what?”

“The two of you should just sleep together,” Meg said, taking a sip from her water glass. 

Crawford froze. 

Dan dropped a plate. 

Meg leaned back in her chair. “Really, Dan, I think it’s the only solution. He calms down when you’re in bed with him. If you just slept in his bed, or, I guess, him in your bed, maybe he wouldn’t have the night terrors so often. At the very least, you’d be right there when he started, so you could get him back to sleep sooner.”

Crawford looked at Dan. This was ridiculous, surely Dan was about to say so, and – 

… Dan was looking at Crawford contemplatively. 

“I mean, it’s worth a shot, right?” Dan met Crawford’s eyes. “What do you think, Crawford?”

Crawford felt his throat closing up. It was true, yes, Dan holding him did calm him down, it did ground him, make him feel safe and secure and the nightmares seem so far away. But he was also aware that those feelings could become stronger, more uncomfortable for Dan, should they spend more time being close with each other. 

“I … I …” he could feel a blush creeping up his neck. Crawford was certain they could both see it, they would know, they could tell, obviously, it was painted all over his forehead.

How he ached to rub at that spot, that horrible spot on his forehead, where all the pain and fear came from, where the nightmares came out and the nightmares went back in …

But no, he hadn’t scratched that spot in months, hadn’t rubbed at it or tried to take a fork to his skin there. The medications he was on were at least helping with that, he no longer felt those urges so strongly, and some days he even forgot about them entirely. It was getting better at controlling himself. He was getting stronger. 

In moments like this though, the urges came back with ferocious force. He’d slapped himself in the face many times in the asylum, before they tied him down, got his dosages right, and he no longer raised his hand to slap himself when the stress bubbled up. 

Now his hand was itching to rise up and slap himself. It would feel so good. He missed it so much. Pain used to ground him. Now it was the touch of another human. Dangerous. But … 

“I … if you wouldn’t mind, I … I think that might help?” Crawford managed to say, without too much of a stutter. 

He wasn’t certain whether he was asking Meg to confirm her permission, or Dan to confirm his offer. 

Somehow, Crawford ended up in his bed, Rufus curled up on his feet and purring happily, with Dan on his right side. To his credit, Dan looked a little awkward, starting out the night here instead of rushing in at 3am or 4am like usual. 

“Do you want me to, uh, hold you, or anything?” Dan asked. 

Crawford did, he really did. Nothing would have made him happier. But he restrained himself. “What about Meg?”

“She said she’s fine with this. Why don’t you believe her?” Dan crossed his arms. “Look, it’s fine, this is weird, it’s weird for me too, ok? I just … want to help.”

Crawford turned off the light before his selfishness got the best of him. 

It took longer than usual for him to drift off to sleep. He woke in the night, not screaming, but just randomly slipped out of sleep and back into wakefulness. Dan had an arm draped over his chest. He was snoring softly.

Crawford smiled, and went back to sleep. 

After a week, with no night terrors, it seemed that their experiment had proved to be a success. 

Meg, insisting that she missed her boyfriend but not his sleepless nights, managed to squeeze the three of them into Dan’s bed one night. Rufus hopped up as well, yowling at the tangle of legs until they made room for him too. 

After that night, there was really no going back. They ordered a bigger bed and crammed it into Dan’s room. 

Crawford still had night terrors, still screamed and flailed, lost in a sea of fear. But they were less and less frequent, increasingly weaker, and he woke much faster than he used to. He didn’t always cry upon waking from them, sometimes he just pulled Dan and Meg close and focused on their arms twined around him. He fell asleep like that, the pressure of two bodies keeping him grounded in reality long enough for sleep to take him again. 

Crawford had trouble accepting how lucky he was, how kind they were to him. Meg blushed and Dan shrugged, but they held him a little tighter on the nights after he said something like that. 

Smiling, Crawford went to sleep.


End file.
